


White Lightning

by LaceKyoko1138



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Cocaine, Gen, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 04:35:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18749128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaceKyoko1138/pseuds/LaceKyoko1138
Summary: Seto Kaiba has many demons, and deals with them accordingly.





	White Lightning

**Author's Note:**

> I deal with real-life grief in weird ways, one of which is writing about YGO and drugs? Well, when in Rome... Let's just say I've seen some shit. (No, I'm not saying I do drugs. I'm clean. But I don't look down on those that do, and understand it's a way of dealing with things. No judgment.)
> 
> Follow me on twitter @heyitslaceyk for updates on fics and art stuff. 
> 
> Sorry if this is a little OOC. It's been a hot minute since I've written seriously for YGO.

Inspired. _Happy._ This is what it gave him. The ability to do whatever he wanted. It wasn’t like he didn’t have that before, but now… He could get twice as much work done and still be home in time for dinner. As if he ate. He found nowadays he didn’t eat that much, if at all. The energy surged through his system, amplifying all sensation. Even the littlest touch was almost too much, but it didn’t matter: most people never touched him anyway. He found something he didn’t have before, and though he couldn’t quite put it in words, he felt it, and it felt good.

White substance wiped away from his nose. Red eyes. An occasional nosebleed. It was all worth it, even if it wasn’t legal, even if it was frowned upon.

Seto Kaiba never cared what others thought of him, so he told himself, and this cocaine addiction was no other.

But it wasn’t an addiction, he was adamant about that. He could quit at any time. He only did it at work anyway. It was no big deal. A little here and there, and boom. Work was done. He could spend more time with Mokuba. Mokuba seemed to appreciate that, even if sometimes he pulled away when Seto was a little _too_ excited. It wasn’t characteristic of him, as Mokuba told him, but he couldn’t help it. Maybe he did some on the way home. No big deal. It was never a big deal. A big deal would be heroin, and Seto promised himself he would never do that. That was too much.

Coke. Like the drink, but better. He knew the risks, but were they worth it? Hell yes. It just felt so g o o d.

What had even started this addiction? No. Not an addiction, _never_ an addiction.

Maybe it started after Atem left, if that was what he was called. Seto still thought it was a bunch of hocus pocus, but he was one to believe what he sees, and boy, seeing the once Pharaoh take a body of his own really spooked him. And when he left? Seto felt like a part of him was taken too. Nothing too sentimental of course. Seto wasn’t a sentimental person. But someone he held in a rather high regard, his _one true rival_ , really unnerved him. What did he have to live for now, other than his company?

And that’s when one day, on a walk, he ran into some unsavory people. They sold him on the idea that this would make him feel good, that this would numb the pain he was feeling. How they knew that he would never know, but he took them on their word, as uncharacteristic of him as that was. He just was so _vulnerable_ , and he hated feeling that way. And these people capitalized on it.

He eventually found people who sold higher quality stuff. He wasn’t one to skimp out and use subpar materials. And coke could easily be sold as subpar. He knew of the mixtures people did with sugar or quinine, and sure it was still risky, with a stroke, instant cardiac death, among other things, but it didn’t matter. He had good insurance and could afford the best medical care. He would be fine. Absolutely fine. Totally fine. He would be so fine it wouldn’t be imaginable. So he told himself.

The only thing he couldn’t do was tell Mokuba. He knew the boy would take it harshly and that was something Seto could never live with. Mokuba would make him quit, and Seto wasn’t ready for that quite yet.

But Mokuba, a sneaky kid at heart, from childish mischief to a shrewd mind, would find out, because if there was one thing that he cared for more than anything, it was his big brother.

~

“I think you have a problem, Nii-sama,” said Mokuba, gazing at his brother carefully. Seto had been out of sorts for a few months now, and for the longest time Mokuba couldn’t figure out what it was. His brother was hyper, something that Mokuba found off-putting. Seto Kaiba was never hyper. He was intense, sure, but never happy-go-lucky, never _this_ intense. It sent Mokuba on edge.

So when he found the crack pipe, he knew Seto was in danger. This time, too, he walked in on his brother snorting the white powder. At his office. Mokuba was…horrified.

“I do not,” Seto said, adamant, wiping his nose which had just started bleeding. “This is how I get my work done, Mokuba. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Drugs help you work? Okay. Sure. Whatever Seto.” Mokuba rolled his eyes. He was the tender age of fourteen now, and he had seen a lot. This was one of the worst things he had seen, even after being kidnapped on several occasions and having his soul ripped from his body.

Seeing someone you love go down the wrong path would always be the worst thing to see.

“I really think you should get help. This isn’t healthy. Don’t you know what you’re doing to yourself?” Mokuba insisted. He wouldn’t let his brother do this, no matter what.

Maybe Seto was depressed. Mokuba, when he found that crack pipe a week ago and did mild surveillance on his brother (Seto wasn’t the only one good with computers), he also looked up symptoms of cocaine and possible causes. Increased dopamine, and even serotonin and norepinephrine over time. Seto was had always been a serious person who wasn’t good with emotions, but Mokuba never thought he was depressed. But even the mighty could fall, and Mokuba saw his brother as mighty. He was a giant in the gaming industry and considered still one of the top duelists in the world, but Mokuba supposed that Seto found his weakness besides his bullheadedness, which he was showing currently.

“I do not need help, Mokuba, but I appreciate the concern.” He started setting up another line. Mokuba looked away.

“Seto, please…” Mokuba begged softly. He heard the snorting, looked at his brother again, who was wiping his nose, white mixing with red. It made him sick.

“This isn’t good for you!” Mokuba cried. Maybe he was hanging around Yugi too much. The guy had a way of showing affection and rubbing that off on people. Yugi exuded kindness and Mokuba learned that from him.

“What do you know of what’s good for me?!” Seto yelled. He never yelled at Mokuba, ever. Maybe when he was sixteen and first taking over Kaiba Corporation and had the existential crisis of his life, but he went back to his loving brother self when his soul returned to his body and he saw his brother again for the first time in six months.

He regretted his words when he saw the tears in Mokuba’s eyes.

Mokuba, knowing when a fight was lost, unlike his brother, ran out of the room, feeling too hopeless at that moment to really do anything. It broke his heart and he needed solace.

Where would he find solace? He didn’t want to impose on Yugi, but it seemed he had no choice. If Seto wouldn’t listen to his own brother, then maybe he’d listen to his archrival.

So Mokuba called up a driver and told him to go to the Kame Game shop on the double.

~

What did Seto do? Nothing of course. He finished work and went home, still high off the coke. It lasted shorter this time though, and he wondered if he’d have to do another line soon. But he shook it off as best he could and had a driver drive him home. Convenient, because he felt like he wouldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, be able to drive.

He thought about what Mokuba said and knew in his heart that he was right. But it was just a way to cope, and Seto knew that, loathe he was to admit it.

Atem leaving was just so harsh on the young CEO. He didn’t think he’d take it this hard, but he had and he buried himself in work, advancing the Duel Disk system, honing the details of the holograms, even investing in making a Duel Monsters school for the future. He invested all his time in Duel Monsters, his one passion. He wondered if that made him pathetic, to have one passion, but it was part of his work, it made him money, and it led to a comfortable life for him and Mokuba.

Then he thought of the trials and tribulations he went through to get this far. An abusive adoptive father who beat him, whipped him till he was bleeding… Forcing him to study every subject a child wouldn’t normally study… Wearing a dog collar like some second-rate mutt (he wondered if that was where the insults to Jonouchi had originated)… It was all still fresh in Seto’s mind, and he involuntarily reached to his back to touch one of the scars. At least he could cover the scars up in long sleeved, high neck shirts. At least he could hide his pain in his work. No one would ever have to know. It just hurt so much, and Seto Kaiba allowed himself this one moment of sadness. But he soon pushed it away, telling himself he wouldn’t be weak. He’d watch a movie with Mokuba or something, ask him how school was, ignore what the younger brother had demanded him do. No coke for tonight. He could live. He _would_ live.

But what awaited him at home was something he never expected.

It was Yugi, his rival in his favorite game, and he looked…upset? What was that look on his face for? Did he come to forfeit his title to Seto finally?

No. Yugi wouldn’t give up that easily.

“Kaiba-kun… Mokuba-kun told me what happened. What’s happening, I mean. And I’m here, to tell you as your friend, that you need help.” Yugi said. Yugi was brave and compassionate, he cared for others so deeply, and Seto was almost _sick_ that Yugi called him his friend. Seto Kaiba didn’t _do_ friends. It was for people with weak hearts to cling to. And Seto Kaiba had no such thing. He was strong, a pillar of strength, and he wouldn’t let friendship crack that resolve.

“You are no friend of mine, Yugi,” Seto responded. “I have no such problem. You know nothing of it.”

“Mokuba-kun has told me everything,” Yugi replied. “He’s been keeping tabs on you. It’s… bad, Kaiba-kun. You’ve put your life in danger and upset your one living relative.”

Seto didn’t like hearing that. He didn’t like being reminded of being an orphan, of being used by family, of being abused. Yugi picked at the scars so deep that they bled again, and Seto would not have it.

“Don’t you dare say anything like that to me,” Seto snapped. “You don’t know the strength I have. You don’t know the work I put in to this company. You mean nothing to me.”

“That may be true, Kaiba-kun, but I still care. Your brother is my friend, and I think of you as such too, and I won’t let one of my friends ruin themselves this way.” Yugi’s resolve was strong. Seto saw the fire in his eyes.

“Nii-sama, please listen to us,” Mokuba pleaded. “You think this habit is making you stronger, but it isn’t. It’s going to stab you in the back and ruin everything you’ve built. Kaiba Corporation will have such a bad reputation when word of this gets out.” He sighed. “I’ve called a private rehabilitation clinic, and they’re preparing a room for you. Please Seto,” Mokuba said tearfully. “Please consider this. I love you.”

Seto let that sink in. _I love you_. He hadn’t heard those words from Mokuba in a while. Maybe he hadn’t spent the time he needed to. Maybe he was being a fool. It was wrong to hurt his only family… He didn’t like being alone. A life without Mokuba was empty.

But what could he do? It wasn’t like him to let himself be vulnerable like this, and he found himself shaking.

“I’ll…do it, Mokuba.” He finally relented. “If it will please you… I don’t want to make you unhappy.”

Mokuba held back a cheer and just enveloped his brother in a hug. Yugi looked on, happy that the brothers reconciled.

After a moment of peace, Seto called for the driver, and was driven to the private clinic where his rehabilitation would begin.

  



End file.
